The Aftermath
by TerryDKay
Summary: When Pepper Potts returns to Tony after her heartbreaking divorce, he offers her job back, with all the intentions to take advantage of her situation. However, things never happen the way they're supposed to for Anthony Edwards Stark.
1. Chapter 1

He sat,and waited, and pulled nervously at his tux once more. She was late--and she was never late. Maybe she just didn't want anything to do with him anymore. It was a possibility--since it had been so long since they last saw each other. He never really got to say goodbye, truth be told. Maybe--

"Tony?" A soft voice called out from behind him and he quickly turned his gaze towards the voice. He took a quick relieved breath and flashed her a smile, standing up to greet her.

"Hi, Pepper." He whispered, his heart seemingly lighter than it had ever been. Pepper gave him a small, reassuring smile and took her seat across from his, looking around at the restaurant.

"You always pick such extravagant places to eat at." She told him, and only then, could he really see the weakening, tired Virginia Pepper Potts.

Tony, without saying anything back to her, ordered a bottle of wine -- Domaine Romanée-Conti -- Pepper liked this one, if he remembered correctly.

"I'm sorry about your..." Tony spoke up, not knowing how to put it in euphemistic words.

"Divorce?" She finished his sentence, a small, worn-out scoff following her word. "No, I guess I brought it upon myself. I never should've left the company--especially..."

It was his turn to finish her sentence. "Without telling me? Eloping with my chauffeur?" He asked, the harsher, cold, and rather smug Tony Stark coming into play. Pepper's face flushed as she let out a deep sigh. Neither of them said anything for the next few moments, because quite frankly, there wasn't much to be said.

The dinner was quiet and quick. When they were done, Pepper immediately stood up, wanting to disappear once again from this man's life. He hadn't changed a single bit, she could see.

"Where are you going?" Tony called out to her, holding her purse up.

"Dammit, Tony," She whispered softly under her breath, coming back to retrieve the purse.

"Doesn't answer my question." He pulled it back, keeping it out of her reach.

"I'm staying at a hotel, all right? Now give it back, it's all I've got at the moment." She confessed, her eyes tearing up once more. And once again, the famous Anthony Edward Stark had nothing to say to her.

"Stay at my place, you can have your old room. It'll be a whole lot better." He told her, knowing this was one offer she couldn't refuse at the moment. She simply couldn't--she had nowhere to stay, with only a limited amount of money.

"No."

"No?"

Pepper sighed, once again frustrated. "Fine. One night."

Tony hid his internal smile and held his arm out, which she took hesitantly. They both knew it wasn't going to be just tonight she was going to spend at his place.

"You know, if you want, you can have your old job back. It's been hard getting by without you." He admitted, once again, making her an offer she couldn't resist. She was silent for the longest time, causing Tony to frown in worry. Had he been much too straight forward with her?

"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" She asked, staring up at him with her larger-than-life eyes as he assisted her into his car.

"That will be all, Miss Potts."


	2. Chapter 2

No more words were exchanged as they headed down to the Malibu house. Tony tried to strike up a conversation a few times, but Pepper politely ignored his words. Although, she did tell him to shut his mouth after he made a rather snarky comment about Happy, and how she should be glad it was he who was driving at the moment.

"Welcome home, Mr. Stark, and…Mrs. Hogan." Jarvis beeped once they stepped into the warm house, and Pepper frowned deeply.

"Thank you, Jarvis, but please; Miss Potts from now on." She whispered, sinking down onto the nearest couch. She placed a gentle hand over her eyes, covering the light shining down on her pale skin. She didn't care if Tony saw her like this right now, because all she needed at the moment was some rest, maybe a cup of coffee and a hot bath. But the latter two could wait.

Anthony simply stared down at the distressed woman, not knowing what to do with her. Alright, so she was going to be working for him, and she was going to be staying at his house. At least for the time being, she'd be with him again.

It was a shame this was the way they had to meet again, quite frankly because back then, he thought he saw a future in the two. Yes, Tony Stark, a future with a woman. He laughed in punishment for this silly consideration, for he knew a relationship in the state he was in was near impossible.

"Stop staring." Pepper finally spoke up once more, removing her hand from her eyes, letting the sight of Tony in. He simply raised an eyebrow and walked around the couch towards her.

"I'm not."

"You were."

Tony took a seat on the couch across from her, running a hand through his thick, dark locks. If this had been anybody else, he would've made a move on her. She was vulnerable, and she had come to him for comfort, so he naturally would've offered her his "comfort,"—if this had been anybody else.

He was still much too sour for the act she pulled on him; disappearing out of his life just like that. He was very aware of Happy's feelings for her, but it wasn't until she eloped with him Tony finally realized they were in love. And it wasn't until then that he realized he had loved her for quite a period of time.

"Shopping, tomorrow. I think you managed to pack everything up nicely when you went away, and I have no clothes for you, except for some lingerie a blonde managed to leave behind." He told her, the slightest hint of bitterness in his voice. "Did you not bring any luggage to California, Pepper? Knowing you, I think you'd be a little bit more prepared."

"I left it at H-Happy's." She stammered, averting her eyes away from the questioning man. "I just dropped everything and came here when I got your message." With that, she closed her eyes once again, Tony's voice invading her head.

"_Pep, it's Tony. I heard about the divorce from Rhodey – I don't know why or how he found out before me, but – I'm sorry. I'll send a jet down there tomorrow, meet me down at Antonello at seven." _

"Right." Tony replied, snapping her out of her reverie. "Well, if you need a bath, you know where the bathroom is, and you know where your room is. I've got work to do downstairs so if there's anything you need, I'll be there. I expect you back on your feet by next week, however, Miss Potts." He said, turning around to head down to the lab.

"Point taken, Mr. Stark." She murmured, swinging her legs around to walk to the bathroom. "Hey, Tony?" She called out after a moment of hesitation, causing him to stop in his steps, though his back was still facing her. "Thanks." She whispered before running towards the end of the hall.

Tony's lips twitched into a small smile as he made his way down the stairs.

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**NOTES:**

Thank you so much for reading! :) It's my first story here and I'm still learning to use the site so bear with me. I really appreciate the reviews/comments/favorites/subscription, it's all really exciting, hehe :) Constructive Criticism is always appreciated too!

I know each chapter is fairly short, and I'm a little bit bummed about that too, but I'll try to make them a tad bit longer! & I'll try to update as often as possible :)

P.S. Long live Iron Man !


	3. Chapter 3

Pepper circled the bathroom about three times before finally remembering she came into the room for a bath. She mentally slapped herself with a small laugh. It felt so good to be back here. It had been strangely unnatural living away from this Malibu mansion, but moreover living away from Tony. It had always been her job to take care of him, mostly because she knew he couldn't take care of himself. And because she knew she would die if anything happened to him.

He would never know that even when she was together with Happy, she constantly worried about him. He would never have to find out, and she was sure he really didn't want to know.

She filled with bathtub with steaming hot water, slowly stripped off her clothes, letting them fall onto the floor. Taking a look at herself through the fogging mirror, she let out an agonizing sob, quickly wiping the tears rapidly running across her cheeks. Without another sound, she entered the tub, before testing the water with her toes.

Then a loud booming came from beneath her, causing her to jump. A few moments later, she realized it was Tony blasting his stupid AC/DC once again. He knew she was in the shower, and he definitely knew she didn't appreciate loud music, so why was he doing this again? He never cared for anybody else but himself, did he?

Yet she had always loved the selfish, narcissistic, arrogant Tony Stark. And yet he had always pushed her away. That wasn't her fault—because she knew. She knew about his chestpiece, she knew about his way with women, she knew about his lack of commitment to things, and most importantly, she knew about his identity. She had thought she knew about his feelings towards her, but apparently she had been wrong once again.

Maybe they were not so different after all, because Tony Stark himself thought he knew everything. Well, he didn't. He never realized Pepper was crazy about him, and when she and Hogan fell in love, it had never been as strong as with Tony. Only a shadow, but that shadow was enough to act on.

Happy had been good to her, as always, but things were just not the same. Happy hardly gave her the attention she wanted, or rather, _needed_. He was always busy with his new job, and so was she. It was during their marriage when they both realized Tony Stark had been paying them a very reasonable sum of money.

Tony could hear the water start running upstairs, moving up and down the pipes between the walls. He turned his music up louder, "Jailbreak," blasting in the room. Pepper used to, and probably still did, hate when he did unreasonable things like this. But to him, this was habit, and the simplest way to forget about everything else. Because quite frankly, this was one of those moments.

After about half an hour later, the shredding guitar solo occupying the room, Pepper ran downstairs, quickly punching the security code in and entering the room. She turned down the music, a frown written clearly across her face.

"Please don't turn down my music," Tony stared back at her, mimicking her expression.

"Tony, it is almost midnight, and I am absolutely exhausted. Please don't do this now." She shook her head with her reply, her hair dripping wet, wearing one of Tony's shirt and a pair of his boxers.

"I like your outfit." He commented, swiftly looking up and down at her. She had gotten skinnier. He didn't think that was possible.

"Tony!" She growled, crossing her arms across her chest as if she was trying to hide her body away from the man. She absolutely hated it when he was like this! What an arrogant, conceited, egotistical—

"I'm sorry."

"What?" Pepper questioned, not sure if she heard him right, asking if she had actually heard anything at all.

"I said I was sorry, what more--"

"No, yeah, no. I got it, yeah." She stammered, now simply looking down at her hands. Silence knocked on their doors once more, and Tony quietly shut his computers off, deciding his work was done here for the night. "I'm going to go sleep, Tony." Pepper murmured turning around to head back upstairs. At that very moment, Tony grabbed her shoulder and turned her around, their nose only an inch apart. Neither of them said anything, or moved for that matter. She thought her heart was going to break out of her body.

Another minute passed by, with them simply staring at each other, until Tony let go of her, turning the light off in the lab. Then they made their way upstairs together, down the hallway, until they came across her old room.

"Tony, I don't know what…I know we…" She began, trying to knot her words together. It was his time to shake his head, mainly because he knew what she was trying to say. And he understood.

"Good night, Virginia." He whispered, making his way to his own bedroom.

Pepper scowled at the name.

It was quarter past eleven when Pepper finally woke up, and she sat up as she panicked, wondering where she was. Then last night came back to her like a million needles poking at her head, and she fell back down onto the bed. This massive migraine really seemed to like to visit her lately. She was once again disturbed by the hard drum beats and "mind-blowing guitar solos," (as Tony used to so frequently describe,) coming from Tony's workplace. After all that, he still insisted on playing his music full-on. However, a small smile crept onto her lips as she almost ran downstairs, only slowing down at the last few steps so it wouldn't seem as if she was excited to see him this morning. Because she wasn't. Right.

"I haven't had breakfast yet, Pepper." He told her, obviously inferring that he was expecting her to make him some. He was half-teasing, of course, but the other half of him really wanted a decent breakfast for once. He never rehired after she left, and it had been burnt toast and eggs almost every single morning. That or no breakfast.

Pepper rolled her eyes, muttering something about responsibilities, although she swiftly turned around to go back up.

"By the way, get ready soon, because I'm going to get you some clothes. It was a bit uncomfortable seeing you in my boxers last night." Tony told her, watching her not even turn her head as he spoke to her. She was so goddamn stubborn. Without responding, Pepper ran back up the stairs.

"Incoming phone call from Colonel Rhodes, Mr. Stark," Jarvis reminded him, and Tony took the call the very second.

"Rhodey,"

"Tony--"

"No, Rhodey, Pepper is back."

"What?"

"Virginia Pepper Potts is back."

* * *

**NOTES:** Hmm, not TOO satisfied with that chapter but I wrote it and it'll do for now, haha! :) Thanks again for the reviews/subscriptions, it makes me giddy every time!

Are there anything you'd like to see happen in the story sometime? Suggestions?


	4. Chapter 4

Rhodey blinked, his cellphone still in his hand. Neither of the two spoke until Tony let out a small cough. It didn't seem like Tony remembered what happened when the man found out Pepper had left with Happy Hogan to get married. Well, Rhodey remembered that night like it was yesterday. It was a Sunday, and Tony called him in the middle of the night, slurring his every word. He was clearly intoxicated -- a habit he somewhat did try to fix when Pepper was around. Rhodey knew something was wrong, and quickly made his way to the house.

That night, Tony went on and on about his love for Pepper, and never ceased to mention Happy's name every once in awhile, calling him every possible foul thing that happened to exist on Earth. Back then, Rhodey had to try hard not to laugh at his friend's anger.

"Rhodey?" Tony called out through the phone, snapping the colonel out of his flashback. "Pepper is--"

"I heard you. Well, uhm, tell her I said 'Hi,' I guess."

"Fine. Why did you call anyway?"

"I wanted to remind you you had that ceremony to attend to next Tuesday. Don't forget it, and don't be late--"

"Wait, she's coming down, I'll call you back." Tony hastily replied, of course hardly remembering what Rhodey said just about three seconds ago. He gently tapped the 'End Call' button on the screen and fell backwards onto his chair, an unreadable expression planted upon his face.

"Mr. Stark, your breakfast is ready." Pepper entered, her hazel eyes full of suspicion.

"I was just about to come upstairs, actually, but this'll do." He shrugged, taking a good hard look at what was presented on the tray. A hot cup of coffee, a couple of perfectly shaped pancake, and some syrop. He thought he was going to faint from the smell.

"You look slightly too pleased." Pepper commented, followed by a small laugh. It felt good to be back...almost too good. When she saw Tony taking a sip of his coffee, she was suddenly reminded of the past, an image immediately coming to her head. "How's your drinking, Tony?" She asked, her tone unexpectly becoming serious.

"Drinking? As in this coffee?"

"You know what I mean! When was the last time you drank?" She pressed on, her heart sinking slightly. She knew he was deliberately avoiding the question, and it made her realize he hadn't been trying to reduce the amount of alcohol he was taking in.

"Last week...end." He mumbled under his breath, his voice becoming smaller with each syllable spoken.

Pepper shook her head, sipping at her own cup of coffee. She hated that he was drinking again, but what she hated more was that she cared so much. "And just how much did you drink, Tony?" She asked, almost afraid of knowing the answer.

"Five…" He told her, watching Pepper's angry expression turn into a softer, more forgiving one because for such a drunkard like Tony, five glasses was quite the improvement. "…Bottles." He finished the sentence, and Pepper threw her head back.

"Five _bottles_! Do you not realize drinking could _kill _you?" She shrieked, obviously very upset. She opened her mouth once again to continue scolding Tony, but before any sound could make it out, she was grabbed by her wrist and yanked towards the man.

"Pepper, look at this." He forcefully placed her hand on his glowing arc reactor, at which Pepper took a deep breath in and held. "I'm not dead. My heart is still beating." He reminded her, a infinitesimal, but genuine smile upon his face. Pepper had to try her best not to smile back at him. It just so happened that this little joke was one of her fondest memories of them.

_It had been absolutely exhausting holding another party for Tony at his place. They had been celebrating the safe return of Anthony Edwards Stark from his short time spent in had to run around the entire house for the whole night, inviting his guests in, keeping them entertained, making sure everything went perfectly as usual, and of course most importantly making deals and appointments with his future clients. The very last couple of them just walked out the door, and Pepper let out a painful sigh, looking around the house. It was...trashed. That would be the most accurate description of it. She sank down on the nearest couch, wanting to rest for now. She was his secretary, not his cleaning maid. This was definitely _not_ in her job description. Nevertheless, she was the one who always cleaned up the mess. Pepper's eyes slowly fluttered to a close, leaning onto one side of the couch. Soon enough, she felt the couch slightly sink beside her. Baffled, she quickly opened her sleepy eyes and looked to her side, only to see Tony staring back at her with his questioning ones. _

_"Tired, Pepper?" He asked, a laugh covering his beautiful tenor voice. She merely smirked back, though it was a tired one. He stared deep into her hazel eyes, and then she understood. Without hesitation--she didn't know if it was because she was tired or because she was brave-- she leaned over to his side, gently placing her head on his shoulder. Her eyes then quickly closed again, and only then did she blame this action on her exhausted state. When a few minutes passed by, though, Pepper noticed something was a bit off. Her eyes opened once more as she sat up, panicking. _

_"Tony, your heart isn't beating!" She screamed, placing a hand over her mouth afterwards. Tony looked at her then as if she had gone absolutely nuts. They stared at each other like that for maybe half a second before he burst out laughing; that hearty, full-on laugh Pepper always appreciated--obviously not now, because she was about to burst into tears. "What's so funny? This is not funny, Tony!" _

_"My heart _is_ beating, Pepper." He told her when he finally stopped laughing. He then gently took her hand and placed it on the side of his neck, and let her fingers fumble for his pulse. She let out a deep sigh when she felt the familiar beats. "You just can't feel it in my chest. After all, I do have this device stuck there." He finished. _

_"Well, it's still not funny." She murmured, flushed, standing up and straightening her skirt out. "I'm going to go clean."_

"Well, you're still not forgiven." Pepper told him, regarding back to his drinking problem. Her cheeks were a little rosy just from that little flashback, and she would have to try and keep her composure.

"Fine, I'm sorry, I won't do it again." He said, taking a large bite out of the pancake.

"What's wrong with using the knife, Tony?" She asked, a tad bit disgusted. She hated anyone without table manners.

"You didn't bring me one, Pepper."

* * *

**NOTES: **

Yay! The fourth chapter is up! :) That was a strange way to end, I know . To be completely honest, I'm a little bit tired and I thought I might as well just post what I have done rather than postpone it for another day.

3 your new comments and subscriptions! a few people have actually added me to their favorite author's list! :O I know it's not a big deal but it makes me so happy ! :) Thanks everybody! Of course, your suggestions & criticisms are equally appreciated!


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